I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relate to shelving and racks for supporting a variety of articles. More particularly, the invention relates to an improved storage system for use in refrigerators.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Various racks and storage bins have been used in conventional household refrigerators. Such racks and bins are typically supported within the refrigerator in one of two ways. The first way is to attach the rack or bin to the wall or door of the refrigerator using pins or tracks secured to the wall or door. The second technique is simply to have the bin supported on or clipped to a wire refrigerator shelf. Examples of the first technique are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,469,711 which issued on Sep. 30, 1969 to A. J. Swaneck et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,346,299, which issued on Sep. 13, 1994 to Werkmeister et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,375,924 which issued on Dec. 27, 1994 to Pohl et al. Other examples of this first technique are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,365,562 which issued to Webb on Dec. 28, 1992, U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,641 which issued to Bussan et al. on Jun. 26, 1990 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,976,098 which issued on Mar. 21, 1961 to Combs. Examples of the second technique, i.e., trays supported on or clipped to a refrigerator shelf, are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,103,885 to Whalen, U.S. Pat. No. 2,239,369 to Nauert and U.S. Pat. No. 2,270,884 to Hedlund.
The systems shown in the patents referenced above, have several disadvantages. Shelves or bins mounted by way of the first technique are generally not suitable for installation after the refrigerator has been delivered to the homeowner. The use of such systems generally must be planned during manufacture of the refrigerator. This greatly reduces the flexibility of such systems in meeting the needs of particular users of the refrigerator. While shelves and bins which are mounted by way of the second technique provide greater flexibility, supporting them on a refrigerator shelf can have the effect of severely limiting the remaining shelf space available after the bin is installed.
Efforts to overcome such problems are represented by the Terrel U.S. Pat. No. 5,397,006, which issued on Mar. 14, 1995, and the Johnson et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,917, which issued on Jun. 18, 1994. The Terrel patent relates to a system which includes a variety of storage trays having lips designed to engage slots on a mounting plate. This mounting plate is designed to be attached to the wall of a refrigerator by screws or by an adhesive, or by a separate mounting bracket which is not shown in the patent. While the Terrel system does provide added flexibility, the user of the system is still required to drill screw holes or the like into the walls of the refrigerator in order to hold the Terrel storage system in place. Otherwise, an appropriate adhesive must be used to mount the storage tray system to the wall of the refrigerator. In either event, this task is inconvenient for a homeowner and constitutes permanent placement of the rack, again reducing flexibility. The Johnson patent shows a system which solves the requirement for permanent mounting. However, the Johnson system is less flexible in that it discloses a single bin rather than a system which includes a plurality of bins that can be inserted or removed as desired by the homeowner.
There is, therefore, a real need for a rack system for use in a refrigerator which is easily installed and removed, does not require any permanent mounting, is flexible in terms of the nature of the shelving it can accommodate, and is limited in the amount of space which it occupies.